Saving Lives Through Design
Avalanche Deaths Per Year (US)
Avalanche Deaths since 2014 (US)
Creating Onboarding to Boost Return Users 729%
Snarf is a user-friendly, all-in-one platform for weather analytics designed for outdoor enthusiasts. By developing a new onboarding flow, I significantly enhanced the platform's usability and boosted returning user growth by 729% and a user base increase of 573%, from 500 users to 14k users. Each time a user is alerted to a weather hazard and adjusts their route, changes their plans, or decides not to venture into the mountains, another hazard is prevented and a life saved!
Preventing Tragedies in The Mountains Through Digital Solutions
Our friends and family members are tragically losing their lives. There are 28 avalanche deaths every year, 244 since 2014 and many more weather related deaths in the mountains due to unsafe conditions.
Mountain conditions can change rapidly, and outdoor enthusiasts need a quick, easy, and comprehensible way to access life-saving information. Our users are busy individuals who carve out weekends or a few hours to enjoy nature. They need reliable, accurate information delivered swiftly. Excited to have fun, they might not always think clearly, so they need a system that helps them understand critical information effectively. The goal at Snarf is to prevent tragedies in the mountains with a digital solution for our friends, families and outdoor enthusiast to enjoy nature safely.
Purpose Born from Tragedy
An enduring memory from my early years is etched in my mind—the sight of my neighbors and friends trick-or-treating three days before Halloween, their faces tear-streaked and solemn. My curiosity led me to uncover the heartbreaking truth: their father had tragically lost his life in a skiing accident, buried beneath an avalanche. As someone with a deep love for snowboarding and skiing, this event left a lasting impact on me, and I've carried the hope that no one else would ever have to endure such a devastating loss.
When I came across Snarf, an innovative weather analytics system designed to support outdoor enthusiasts, I felt an immediate connection to its mission. Conceived by Robby Riley, a fellow skier and engineer, Snarf's goal is to provide valuable, potentially life-saving information to individuals like us who embrace the exhilaration of mountain sports while also recognizing the importance of safety.
Inspired by Snarf's mission, I eagerly volunteered my time and expertise, channeling my passion and experience in UX design into making a meaningful contribution to this vital project. Together, we set out to create a tool that would protect the very community to which we belonged—and the countless others who share our enthusiasm for the mountains and the adventures they offer.
Purpose Born from Tragedy
An enduring memory from my early years is etched in my mind—the sight of my neighbors and friends trick-or-treating three days before Halloween, their faces tear-streaked and solemn. My curiosity led me to uncover the heartbreaking truth: their father had tragically lost his life in a skiing accident, buried beneath an avalanche. As someone with a deep love for snowboarding and skiing, this event left a lasting impact on me, and I've carried the hope that no one else would ever have to endure such a devastating loss.
When I came across Snarf, an innovative weather analytics system designed to support outdoor enthusiasts, I felt an immediate connection to its mission. Conceived by Robby Riley, a fellow skier and engineer, Snarf's goal is to provide valuable, potentially life-saving information to individuals like us who embrace the exhilaration of mountain sports while also recognizing the importance of safety.
Inspired by Snarf's mission, I eagerly volunteered my time and expertise, channeling my passion and experience in UX design into making a meaningful contribution to this vital project. Together, we set out to create a tool that would protect the very community to which we belonged—and the countless others who share our enthusiasm for the mountains and the adventures they offer.
Create an Easy to Use Life Saving Weather Analytic Solution
The client had meticulously gathered all the critical data and engineered a robust platform to deliver this life-saving information. However, to ensure this information was accessible and intuitively understood, he needed a design that would resonate with users on a visual and emotional level. To truly achieve the goal of empowering friends, families, and outdoor enthusiasts to experience nature safely, Snarf’s website required a comprehensive UX redesign. The challenge was to create a digital solution where function meets form—ensuring that every interaction is not only efficient but also aesthetically engaging, thus enhancing the overall user experience.
UX/UI Overhaul, and Usability Testing
It became evident that superficial changes wouldn't transform this platform into a tool that the average user could navigate effectively—let alone one that could fulfill our mission of saving lives and making Snarf indispensable for every outdoor enthusiast. To truly achieve our objectives, the platform needed to be user-friendly, intuitive, and effortlessly accessible. Understanding this, I emphasized the need for a deeper focus on usability. I presented my case, supported by research that indicated users were struggling with key functions and were often confused about the platform's purpose and navigation. This was evident from both the lack of returning users and a guerrilla test I conducted at Heavenly Ski Resort, where I asked three ski instructors for their thoughts on the app after letting them explore it on their own for five minutes. After presenting these findings, I was able to persuade Robby to allow me to conduct a full usability study. This would enable us to identify and address the real challenges users might face, ensuring that the platform could genuinely serve its life-saving purpose.
Competitor Analysis
I sought to understand what other companies are doing well and where they might be falling short. The competitor analysis included three direct competitors (OpenSnow, Snow-forecast.com, Snow Forecast) and two indirect ones (Windy, Duolingo).
Direct Competitors
Indirect Competitors
User Research
To begin our usability study, I enlisted Rab, a local ski enthusiast and a close friend. His enthusiasm for Snarf was palpable—he was genuinely excited as he navigated the platform. However, the next participant, my wife Bo, provided a stark contrast. Known for her candor, she offered a much more critical perspective, which proved invaluable in identifying significant usability issues. She pointed out that the homepage didn’t clearly explain what Snarf was, not being sure what she could do on the app, and there was a need for better contrast and improved iconography. The remaining three participants echoed Bo's concerns about the lack of clarity, low contrast, and the need for better icons, though they expressed them with less directness.
Affinity Mapping
• Usability in Onboarding
• Usability Confusion
• Usability Issues with Inconsistency and Trust
• Usability Problems Due to Lack of Spacing
• UI Icons
• UI Visuals
• UI Weather-Related Issues
• Accessibility Concerns
• Major Issues Needing Immediate Fixes
• Future Implementations
This process allowed me to effectively pinpoint the primary pain points (lets break this down by bullet as seen below) and create a plan to tackle them, turning problems into opportunities for improvement. All five users found the website overly complicated, with only the two existing users able to navigate it somewhat effectively. These existing users managed to complete 3 out of 5 usability tasks, but they still didn’t know about the live webcams, couldn’t decipher the maps properly, and struggled with a few charts. The three new users were confused from the start, and all of them stated that they couldn’t figure out what the website was for from the homepage. They were only able to complete 2 out of 5 usability tasks. Additional concerns emerged around the user interface elements, such as the unclear distinction between winter and summer modes, ambiguous iconography, low contrast, and the readability of certain charts. These issues made it difficult for all five users to understand the information presented.These insights were crucial in guiding the next steps of the design process.
Tackling Pain Points
After studying other websites and competitors, reviewing best practices, and following Jakob's Tenth Usability Heuristics (Help and Documentation), I decided that the system was complex enough to require an onboarding flow. This would provide users with both visual and written documentation upfront.
Pain Points
Solutions
A Consistent Onboarding Flow to Increase Usability
After researching best onboarding practices and studying how other brands do their onboarding. I opted for an onboarding approach similar to OpenSnow, one of the biggest and most popular similar products in the space. This decision was made to keep the product consistent with the standards users were already accustomed to. While Open Snow focuses mainly on resorts and provides basic weather forecasts, Snarf offers more comprehensive weather analytics for outdoor enthusiasts.
I hypothesized that by creating an effective onboarding flow and properly informing users on how to navigate the website, we could build a loyal user base and significantly increase returning users. This would not only help achieve our goal of saving more lives from tragedies in the mountains but also contribute to the success of Snarf as a digital platform.
Snarf First Usability Test Screens
• Insufficient Contrast
• Bad or non existing iconography
• Insufficient Contrast
• Hard to read chart
• Bad or non existing iconography
• Insufficient contrast
• Cant look at previous snow report
• Bad or non existing iconography
Snarf Screens After Addressing Pain Points
• Created colored icons for better contrast
• Added help icons
• Added color to the charts for better contrast
• Created a more readable chart
• Added help icons
• Added color to the icons to signify users where they are at
• Created a last 7 days summary to help inform users of snow conditions to increase safety
• Added help icons
• Increased contrast
• Color Signifiers for previous week and upcoming week's snow summary
• Added help icons
• Created iconography and a color change to signify what mode users are in
• Created iconography for climbing locations and color signifiers to alert users of locations weather
• Created iconography and a color change to signify what mode users are in
• Created iconography for backcountry locations and resort locations increasing usability
Project Gallery
Onboarding Flow
Easily readable, skier-focused weather forecasts to help you find the best snow conditions.
Access live webcams from resorts, snowstakes, and highways to monitor real-time weather conditions.
Explore maps with detailed weather station data, climbing locations, and live webcam feeds.
Check real-time snowpack measurements from thousands of weather stations to prepare for your trip.
Save your favorite spots, monitor peak weather windows, and set season objectives with ease.
Main User Flow
Overview of Snarf with quick access to top snow forecasts and a search function for ski resorts, mountains, or crags.
Navigate the website with ease using this simple, intuitive menu to access various features like Home, Help, and Account settings.
Locate spots, webcams, resorts, and weather stations on an interactive map for a comprehensive view of current conditions.
Easily save and manage your favorite locations for quick access to the latest weather and snow conditions.
Stay prepared with a snow summary that provides forecasts and snow conditions for the coming week.
Review the past week's weather and snow conditions to understand recent patterns and plan accordingly.
Provides users with detailed weather analytics to help them prepare for any outdoor adventure.
Offers in-depth metrics on weather conditions over the next seven days, helping users plan ahead.
Displays hourly graphs with up-to-date information on avalanche conditions, providing life-saving insights.
Quickly access the closest avalanche center with location-specific information to ensure safety.
Allows users to dive deeper into avalanche danger reports for comprehensive safety planning.
Successful Design Solutions
After implementing the new solution, I conducted another usability study to assess its effectiveness. The results were overwhelmingly positive—all five users responded enthusiastically to the redesigned interface. They appreciated the updated UI, the refined iconography, the season signifier, and the enhanced charts and graphs. What stood out most, however, was how much easier it had become for users to navigate the website and understand its core purpose. They could effortlessly check the charts, stay informed about snow conditions, assess avalanche risks, and even add their favorite mountains to a personalized list. This success validated the power of thoughtful, user-centered design in creating intuitive and meaningful experience.
729% Increase in Returning Users and 574% User Base Growth
After launching the new product, I was initially satisfied with the work I had accomplished. However, it wasn’t until I reviewed the analytics and observed a 574% growth in the user base 500 to 14k and a 729% increase in returning users that I fully realized the profound impact of my efforts. This was more than just metrics—it was clear indication that I had succeeded in making the platform not only more engaging but also more effective.
Saving Lives, by Enabling Informed Decision Making
The goal was to create a platform that is not only functional but truly usable and intuitive—a system that enhances the user experience while also saving lives. Achieving this required an intense focus on understanding the needs and behaviors of the users, along with countless hours of testing and refinement. These efforts paid off, resulting in a platform that is both accessible and effective.
The experience taught me invaluable lessons, deepening my skills as a designer, collaborator, and communicator. I improved my empathy, refined my research abilities, honed my skill in conducting studies, and learned the importance of letting go of my ego—recognizing that not getting stuck on a plan or design and being open to ideas from anyone can lead to great results. I’m grateful to Robby for his trust and the opportunity to be his thought partner. This allowed me to fully engage in the iterative process of user experience design. Although there were moments of doubt for both of us—wondering if we were wasting our time, questioning my knowledge, and overcoming imposter syndrome—the results from the initial usability tests confirmed that we were on the right track and that our work was truly valuable.
User Research
My biggest challenge was the client's limited budget. I covered the costs of conducting the unmoderated usability study. To address the lack of resources, I turned to friends and family, calling in favors and sending persistent reminders until I was able to recruit three new users. Robby also managed to involve two existing users, helping to round out the study.
Another obstacle was working solo and wearing multiple hats, but this experience allowed me to gain valuable skills in teamwork, driving tangible results for the business and users, designing user interfaces, conducting studies, and implementing solutions that drove growth. It also helped me build confidence in myself and my abilities.
Early on, I hadn’t set clear goals or metrics to track our progress. It was only midway through the project, after reading Articulating Design Decisions, that I recognized the critical importance of metrics. At that point, I began closely monitoring Snarf's Google Analytics and established a concrete goal: to grow the user base and increase returning users and brand loyalty. Which would help spread the platform, save more lives, and increase revenue to further expand the platform. This shift in approach was instrumental in refining the design process and ultimately contributed to the project's success.
Enhanced Onboarding and Life-Saving Offline Features Envisioned
Looking back, I wish I had chosen a cleaner onboarding approach similar to Duolingo's style, where the onboarding covers the whole screen with a solid color and text only, complemented by tooltips throughout the user flow. Instead of showing mockups of the screens with descriptions, this method could have been more engaging and effective. Perhaps this will be V3!
For the future, I believe the most impactful step I can take is to create a dedicated mobile app. Most of the users already access their profiles and information on mobile devices. An app would not only enhance user experience but also allow Snarf to implement an offline feature. This would be invaluable for users in the backcountry with limited service, potentially save more lives.
A dedicated app with offline ability.
Snarf's dedicated mobile app's icon.
You Can Help Reach Millions and Reduce Mountain Fatalities
I have a request for you, the reader. If you or anyone you know is involved in skiing, snowboarding, or any mountain activities, please share Snarf and help advance the mission to save lives. Additionally, if you have connections within large organizations in the snow sports industry, your support could help extend Snarf’s reach to millions of users, significantly reducing fatalities. I’ve seen firsthand how a single wrong decision can devastate a family, and your support could make a critical difference for someone you care about.
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www.Snarfme.com
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